Ball in general, life on the road… on this blog, either you do or you don't.

Couple links

My friend and colleague Jesse Sanchez, who does some very cool stuff all over MLB.com, pointed me to our new Dominican Beisbol page. There’s some cool stuff there, and besides Jesse asked me to give him a link. So here you go, my friend — see you in October, somewhere.

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I know this doesnt have anything to do with the above blog; but what really bothers ;me about the last couple of weeks is not the losing…(its understandable with all the injuries)..but the complete lack of discipline…(we have no consistent power; we have no speed)…so why are we not advancing runners– getting them into scoring position– at least doing the fundamental things that could win a lot of one to two run games– of which we have lost a lot lately…(we either lose by 1 or 2 or 10 plus) I havent counted this year –however it has to be an unbelievable number –of runners we have stranded at third base with less than 2 outs…slow ground balls, bunts, medium long flyballs would score them..and we have people swinging for the fences…we have too many short; pop fly hitters..eckstein, taguchi, miles, ryan…when you have an end of the batting order of the pitcher,ryan,miles,eckstein, and taguchi..thats a recipe for what we have been getting–stranded runners –especially when they are not doing the basics.. not moving runners over..taking full swings and getting medium pop ups..its frustrating..I know they are not doing it on purpose…but it would be good to at least see attempts to hit it to the the second base side to move the runner to third..pound the ball into the ground to get the runner home from third..some safety squeezes even..teams need 1 or 2 players like an eckstein or a miles…but you cant have four hitters like that in a row ..unless they are the type that can get on base and steal bases to get into scoring position…the lineup we are putting together does not strike fear into anyone…and what is even more frustrating is the amount of errors and mental blunders that the “defensive” type hitters are making in the field.. I believe Tony Larussa has done a tremendous job working with what he has to work with…I hope he stays..I believe what he did to buddy ryan will have long term benefits for ryan and whoever he plays with in the future…but thats all tony can do –he cant play for them..(sorry just had to vent)

sorry, this is also off topic. I was going to post on the Brenden Ryan thing, and the previous post set me up perfectly. thank you. now, first i am not a firm believer in doing everything my boss tells me, so you know where i’m coming from. kevin slaten was going off on Larussa for yanking Ryan over the 3-0 swing, saying that Larussa plays favorites and if someone like Ankiel (who he called Larussas pet boy or puppy or something)had done that the situation would have been different. well guess what! i was at the game on friday night and wittnessed this very thing first hand, and Slaten was 100% CORRECT. Ankiel swings at 3-0, with runners on first and third mind you, and ends the inning. I thought “thats the last at bat for him tonight” nope, out he came to man the field. Amazing! I really can’t stand Slaten, i think he’s the sports version of Howard Stern, but he was good as gold on that one.
so to the previous poster, what lesson is Ryan supposed to learn from all this. Tony is a jerk and picks on little kids, or if you want to be in the majors for the cards organization you have to reach the ripe old age of 35 minimum. i’m not one of the mob calling for Larussas head on a plate, I actually would like to see the doctors and physical therepy team take a hike. over the last 3 years name one player this group of monkeys has healed successfully. as an owner last season seeing so many go down with oblique strains would have been a red flag. look at all the money we have had riding the pine due to injury the last couple years. how many times has this happened; player gets hurt we wait for the diagnosis, and press release says it’s a minor scar on the pinky finger, only to find out four weeks later that they were wrong and the player is actually missing his entire left arm, will now require surgery and will be out for this season-next season-return for two games, and be back under the knife because the surgeon forgot his forcepts inside the players bicept. Just a thought.

Manor…read Laevilfrog’s post V-E-R-Y carefully…not only was it different because the take sign was on, but also because the actual baseball situation was different.

Honestly, people…I am so sick of hearing the “Tony is a jerk” and “Tony is a bad manager” statements with NO supporting evidence to either…it drives me nuts.

PLEASE…either take the time to do your research and learn the game, or just don’t rant. I saw the shots of Ryan during that game…I felt bad for the guy, too…but as good as I think he can be, he’s just not good enough to let something like that slide. By that I mean you aren’t doing the kid any favors by teaching him you can get away with something like that…you just aren’t. Tony’s job is to teach him NOW, while he’s young, so the kid has a better chance of excelling at this level.

I will also say this: Back off and let the kid handle it like a man. I think the BEST thing that came out of this situation is watching the character of Brendan Ryan as he responded to it. First, he responded during the game with true remorse, passion, etc. It REALLY bothered him. I feel sorry for him, but GOOD. What professional sports needs is people who truly feel upset when something like that happens…it’s based in a great desire to play this game. Second, he spoke like a man after the game. He said he would have done exactly the same thing Tony did. He didn’t avoid the question, he didn’t disagree with Tony, and he didn’t act surly or angry. He recognized he made a mistake and he owned that mistake.

I was very proud of Brendan Ryan during and after the game. But don’t make Tony the bad guy…he has to do what he did. Don’t forget, that incident was only the latest in a LONG series of mental errors by Ryan – a player who wasn’t supposed to be playing at this level for at least another year, but injuries pushed him in early. How many times do you simply tell your son to stop playing in the street before you finally have to punish him to get the point across for his own good?

Sorry…don’t mean to rant…just been getting sick of listening to people criticize Tony for doing the right thing…not the right thing for him, or for us, or even for the team…for doing the right thing for Brendan Ryan.

don’t take me as a tony hater, which i am not. just adding support to a statement made by Slaten. but, tell me this, how many times has Pujols been benched for running through a stop sign and getting thrown out. if you take a stand with one you have to keep that standard.
my view of the constitutional law that you can’t swing on 3-0 is not the same as most. if a batter is struggling, or in the case of friday night (which being in the stands could not make out Larussas swing on the count sign, sorry)with runners in scoring position, it only makes sense to swing at the best pitch. in most cases 3-0 is going to be the best pitch as well as the only one you know pretty well is going to be hittable.

anyway, broken down to it’s bare bones batting is not a game of wits, it is putting your best swing on the most hittable pitch, first or fourth(3-0).

I completely understand what you’re saying…it just isn’t the same. Here’s why…

Pujols is an experienced player with many successful years under his belt. He’s proven he can help this team at this level consistently. He is, in many ways, the heart of this team. He has built a record of credibility in the years he has played with the team. Many times, his over-aggressiveness has benefitted us as much as hurt us. I could go on, but the point is that Pujols is given the ability, by the management staff, to make his own calls in many situations.

Brendan Ryan is a rookie…barely. The kid is not supposed to be ready for this level. If you watch him play consistently, it’s clear he still walks on the field in the same mindset as a double A or triple A player. He doesn’t know this level, he doesn’t know the arms in the outfield as Pujols does, and he simply isn’t mature enough to trust with those decisions. Again, could go on, but I think you see my point.

All that being said, your analogy makes part of my point for me…you better teach this kid how to think and play the right way NOW because no one will be able to teach him when he’s been in this league for 7 years, and has been successful. And, of course there is a bit of a double standard. Of course Pujols gets more room to make his own decisions than Ryan because Pujols is the meal ticket for this franchise. That’s just how it is. Why do you have to make one thing stick for everyone regardless of who it is?

Here’s my thing: I work hard and prove I’m good at my job and you can trust me. The guy next to me does the opposite. Instead of going to that guy and dealing with him individually, my boss decides to enact a new policy. It affects us all. Suddenly, no matter how hard I work, I’m treated no better than the worst guy in the office. All because my boss thinks if you take a stand with one you have to keep that standard. It’s not fair or the right thing to do…and it’s not the best thing for the staff (team).

However you want to slice it, however you want to look at or wish it was so everyone was happy, the reality is that Ryan is an unproven rookie who makes many mental mistakes. Pujols is the opposite. It’s not only not the same, it’s not even in the same ballpark.

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